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Cyclone 3000W quickstart guide.

05-28-2016, 12:46 AM

Hi there,
First of all the Cyclone mid-drive is a kit that converts "most" pedal power bicycles into an electric bicycle. It has enough power that could be considered a small moped. Notice I said "most" b/c there are a few things that you'll have to check before ordering one. The cyclone is not for the faint of heart in terms of performance, as you're talking about an eBike capable of 40 mph on the flats with ease. This kit has 3000W of power, or around 4 horsepower.

Sounds cool, but do I need one? Well, the question you should ask yourself then is: I am looking for serious power? good offroad capabilities? or high commuter speed? If the answer is yes to any of those then YES, the Cyclone is your kit. It will do wheelies and if assembled properly it will be very reliable, give you a good adrenaline rush on the dirt trail and make a formidable commuter eBike, capable of cruising at 30mph without breaking a sweat.

Okay, I am sold, how hard is this thing to wrench together? The installation difficulty varies, but the initial installation is fairly straightforward if you have the right tools to do the job... which I'll talk about these in a second. The hardest part is usually making it look pretty... since the stock controller has a few extra cables that you most likely wont need. So hiding those and running the cables in a tidy manner can be a bit of a challenge, but it can certainly be made to look great if you are willing to spend the time with it.

Okay, I am ready to order... how do I get started?

First off you need to make sure you have a threaded Bottom Bracket. If you don't know if your bicycle has an IS threaded bottom bracket then my advice is to take it to the local bike shop and have them find out. Once you've determined that you has indeed an IS threaded bottom bracket then it is very likely the Cyclone will fit.

Then you need to measure the bottom bracket width, which the local body shop tech can do for you as well. Once you know this info there are three most common bottom bracket widths: 68, 73 and 100mm. Most modern MTBs and commuter bicycles use the 68 or 73 mm, which are considered almost identical as the parts required to install the kit on either one are the same sans a couple of spacers that go in the bottom bracket for the 73mm and the motor mount standoffs. The Cyclone comes ready to bolt onto a 68mm BB and should have included (at least the kit that Luna sells) the spacers for the 73mm. The 100mm BB is used for fat bikes, for that you'll need the 100mm standoffs and different hardware, including a special ISIS BB; that needs to be specified when purchasing. I strongly recommend that you purchase the ISIS BB option on the Cyclone, as the square taper tends to have some alignment issues. If you are building a trike most trikes will have a 68mm, both of mine do; so if you are mounting the Cyclone on a trike most likely you'll need the 73mm... but measure the bottom bracket tube length before ordering just to be 100% sure.

Once you've measured these dimensions you're almost there.

So now need to make sure you have the right tools to get the job done. My advice for first time builders is to have the bike's old Bottom Bracket (BB) taken out by the local body shop tech. They will do it in 10 minutes and save you a whole lot of trouble getting the old rusty stuff out of the bike. Believe me, its worth it.

Right I have them, now there are a few throttles, and screens, and other misc stuff. Do I need that?

Throttles come in a few different styles. Half grip, full grip, and thumb throttles. I recommend the half grip. Which are two variants. The 36-72V Cyclone throttle with a key to turn the ignition ON/OFF, then there is the well known ORO throttle. This throttle is pretty decent, but its supposed to be a 48V only throttle so order this one if you are not going to run anything above 48V and the ORO Throttle has a switch to turn the eBike motor on/off. The thumb throttle is pretty basic, has just a lever that you operate with your thumb. It might come with a button to turn the ignition on/off.

Screens, do I need Cycle Analyst or any other stuff? I will be clear in this, you don't need it to get the Cyclone running, but it is HIGHLY recommended. The same way as if you need an instrument cluster... the car will drive without the instrument panel, but you won't be able to see whats going on with the battery or the power... My recommendation here is to go for the Cycle Analyst. Anything above 2.4 is good.

Chainrings, which one?
For lightweight eBikes I would consider a 44-48, or even better would be a triple chainring 44-48-24 for eBikes and lightweight trikes. This will help your cassette chain last for a very long time. For a heavy trike or heavy ebike you should consider a 48-48, or a 48-48-24 triple.

By using this kind of chainring with a 44-49 configuration you'll be trading wear from the cassette chain to the motor chain... so you might get 3000 miles out of your cassette chain and about 1500 miles out of the cheap BMX chain on the motor side... Especially if you run a lot of power. This requires the controller to be set in mode #3 in the selector switch, thus unlocking full RPM capabilities which will reduce the torque and thus the forces going through the chains,.

So, which Battery now?

The battery is the MOST important component of the entire kit. This is the only place where I do not recommend skimping.

So before you order any battery lets set some Lithium chemistry background first so we all understand what these mean. I would not touch or consider any other chemistry for the Cyclone kit, the SLA and NiCd, or NiMH aren't as capable or as durable as the latest Lithium batteries.

The three most important Lithium chemistries you will be considering are the following:
-Li-Po
-Li-Ion
-Li-Fe-Po

-Li-Po is short for Lithium Polymer, and more correctly LiCo, or Lithium Cobalt. These are usually found on RC (remote controlled) vehicles, and they are considered the most powerful of all the Lithium chemistries commercially available. These charge to 4.2 volts per cell and can have a very high discharge rate, upwards of 65C some of the high end stuff. C is the amount of current they can deliver proportional to their capacity. And the rule of thumb is that the higher the discharge rate, the lower the energy density; so a 10C pack will have considerably more energy density than a 65C pack, but it won't be able to deliver as much current without some serious heating up.
As of very recently be aware that certain LiPo batteries are now named Li-HV, this is not a gimmick, those are real and really good batteries as those can charge up to 4.35 volts per cell, and that's super powerful stuff. I've tested some of those and they are REALLY good but expensive still.
Service life would be around 300-600 cycles before they really start decline, but that depends on how they are treated.
So, in terms of voltage for regular LiPo a 6S pack would be 22.2 volts nominal and fully charged to 25.2 volts. Therefore, 12S would be 44.4 V nominal, 50.4 V fully charged and 18S would be 66.6V nominal 75.6V fully charged. A 20S LiPo pack would be 84V, and those hold their voltage fairly well, especially the higher C rated packs.

-Li-Ion Those are usually found on 18650 cylindrical cells, and they are not as powerful as their LiPo cousins but they are very lightweight and offer very good energy density, and those are usually better in energy density than high discharge RC LiPos. Service life is comparable to the LiPos, 300-600 cycles before they are headed for retirement. Most of those will charge to 4.1 volts and are 3.6 volts nominal. So 20S Li-Ion would be 72 V nominal and ~82 volts fully charged. Those won't hold full charge for very long, so expect the full voltage to drop quickly and reach a plateau.

-Li-Fe-Po, or Lithium Iron Phosphate, those are the least "explosive" of the three Lithium chemistries denoted here, they tend to have much lower voltage per cell, 3.2 nominal and 3.6 fully charged. To make up for these lower voltage these packs are usually higher cell counts than their LiPo or LiIon counterparts. The advantage of those LiFePos is that they tend to have a much longer service, upwards of 1000 cycles before they start to deteriorate. They also have very flat discharge curves, so you won't really know is about to go flat until the very end of the pack, when the voltage drops like a rock. Those seem to handle cold weather better than their LiPo and LiIon counterparts.
So 12S LiFePO would be 38.4 V nominal and 43.2 V fully charged.

With the battery jargon out of the way lets get started:

The OEM Cyclone controller has internal electronics rated for a max voltage of 80 Volts. Using the above tables you can determine which batteries will work. So, if you are going to use LiPos, then 18 LiPo cells in series would be considered a safe max. 19S would work, but the closer you get to the max rating of the capacitors the shorter the controller will last.

Also, on 18S LiPo and mode #3 you'll be hitting commutation frequency limits, effectively hitting motor RPM redline so going higher than 75V fully charged might not be worth it b'c you'll need to shift all the time so you don't hit redline.

So, wqith that warning out of the way, lets see what amperage ratings are good.

The OEM Cyclone controller has a 40 amp limiter. Which means that no matter what battery you install, it will always use 40 amps max, so your battery has be able to provide 40 amps continuous, if it doesn't then you need to find something else that can do 40 amps (not peak, continuous). I would personally go for something that can deliver 50 amps. or more. I think the Luna 60V pack is pretty powerful and will work fine for this application.